That may be a cliche but one that came to mind after thumbing through a file of old newspaper stories marked “Earth Day/Earth Summit/Earth Festival” with the notation “through 1991” scribbled in the top left corner.

Long-time copy editor/designer Russ Schach found the bulging, white envelope and tossed it on my desk and attached this friendly sticky note: “I saw this old library file in the discard bin — thought it might provide something (underlined) of value, or spark an idea for a column. Ya never know? Or maybe just a smile or …?”

Russ has what you might call institutional memory. Important in life and well, institutions. So you don’t keep making the same mistakes.

“The drought-watchers say the day is coming when we Southern Californians must practice water conservation even when there is no drought.”

With all the news about the drought this past week, that’s apropos. Metropolitan Water District’s board will send its customers 15 percent less water this year. And the State Water Resources Control Board is the new water cop.

Oh, wait a minute. I wrote that sentence on April 19, 1991. Gosh, I didn’t plan this, but that was 24 years ago exactly.

Smile.

Spark. Idea.

In that same column, I wrote about how I saved water by taking out my backyard grass and replacing one third with yarrow, a California native plant, and one-third with sand. Yes, the memories of me hauling 11 50-pound bags of sand to the back of our deep backyard for a makeshift volleyball court/kids sand box.

I had forgotten how home ownership can light creative fires. Or maybe that was the drought. The Drought of 1991.

So far, MWD has spent $100 million on a turf-removal program for member agencies. This drought, that drought, it’s all running together.

“Only this time it’s worse,” said colleague Kevin Smith.

He’s right.

Four years in and it’s bone dry. Add to that fact that in 1991 California had 30 million people and today? 38 million. And an economy built on high-water uses, from almonds to iPhones. Silicon Valley (chips, components) uses a lot of water. So it’s not just the farmers.

Which brings me to the State Water Resources Control Board’s tiered water conservation rates. Pasadena must reduce water use 25 percent; Arcadia and Glendora: 35 percent. The list is on the site www.waterboards.ca.gov under the “Documents” tab.

The state worked it this way: Areas that saved a lot of water in the last year will only have to cut back 10 percent; areas that did a so-so job will be required to cut back 20-25 percent; areas that used a lot of water (mostly due to outside watering) will have to cut 35 percent.

There is no way these cities can do that without letting their lawns go brown. I mean, most homes already have low-flow toilets, showers and water-stingy dishwashers. So the bulk of water waste is outdoors.

Sure, as my former student and water expert Norris Brandt wrote in his blog, “not showering with friends. Not even standing in a bucket during your shower. That’s not was real California natives do. That’s what Texans think Californian natives do.”

If you don’t know what to do for Mother Nature this Earth Day (which is always April 22), maybe you know how to dance. I hear rain dances are fun.

Steve Scauzillo covers environment and transportation for the Southern California News Group. He has won two journalist of the year awards from the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club and is a recipient of the Aldo Leopold Award for Distinguished Editorial Writing on environmental issues. Steve studied biology/chemistry when attending East Meadow High School and Nassau College in New York (he actually loved botany!) and then majored in social ecology at UCI until switching to journalism. He also earned a master's degree in media from Cal State Fullerton. He has been an adjunct professor since 2005. Steve likes to take the train, subway and bicycle – sometimes all three – to assignments and the newsroom. He is married to Karen E. Klein, a former journalist with Los Angeles Daily News, L.A. Times, Bloomberg and the San Fernando Valley Business Journal and now vice president of content management for a bank. They have two grown sons, Andy and Matthew. They live in Pasadena. Steve recently watched all of “Star Trek” the remastered original season one on Amazon, so he has an inner nerd.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.